Don’t believe everything you read, especially on the internet.
A rumor making the rounds on the web claims that a worker for the confectionery company Cadbury was caught doing the unthinkable to candy he produced during his work day.
“This is the guy who added his infected blood to Cadbury products,” reads the caption under a photo of a man being led away in handcuffs. “For the next few weeks do not eat any products from Cadbury, as a worker from the company has added this blood contaminated with HIV (AIDS). It was shown yesterday on BBC News.”
The problem? It was never on the BBC — and it’s just not true.
The claim is an Easter-themed take on a rumor that’s made the rounds for the past several years, according to Snopes. Other versions of the hoax claim the same man added his HIV-infected blood to other popular products, like Pepsi.
And you don’t have to throw out your beloved Easter candy, because it’s 100 percent false — not that it would be a problem if a Cadbury employee working on the production line did have HIV.
How HIV is transmitted
Hint: It’s not through simply touching the saliva or blood of an infected person.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, HIV can only be transmitted through certain fluids, like blood and semen, along with pre-seminal, rectal and vaginal fluids — and breast milk.
And in order for them to infect the other person, they have to come in contact with damaged tissue, a mucous membrane (like those inside the vagina, mouth or anus) or be directly injected into blood via a syringe or needle.
Even eating food contaminated with the blood of an HIV-positive person won’t give you the disease, according to the CDC. “Even if the food contained small amounts of HIV-infected blood or semen, exposure to the air, heat from cooking and stomach acid would destroy the virus,” the CDC writes on its website.
The guy in the photo — Sadiq Ogwuche — was actually arrested in connection with a 2014 bombing in Nigeria.
The real danger of eating Easter candy
So, there aren’t a lot of health risks with eating Easter candy (other than a mad sugar rush).
That said, little kids should be supervised when they gorge on Cadbury confections during the holiday, at least the smaller ones.
A British mother issued a warning about giving little kids the Mini Cadbury Creme Eggs in their baskets.
“I watched the light slip from my baby’s eyes, I tried in vain to save her,” the anonymous woman wrote of the death of her daughter three years ago.
“She had choked on a Mini Egg and I was unable to dislodge it, even with back slaps and pushing up under her ribs,” she wrote. “I had done a first aid course six months prior to this event so all the techniques to help a choking child were still fresh in my mind but it didn’t help.”
“If your children enjoy these chocolate treats please watch them extra close and remind them to sit down whilst eating them or avoid them altogether.”
